Responsibility
by sevenofmine
Summary: Mainly during "Chain of Command". Andorian Tallara Shran is sent by the Intelligence Agency to an undercover mission in a military base with the order to retrieve all information gathered about Terok Nor and Bajor during the last few months of the the same time, Captain Picard is captured and brought to the very same military base...(Featuring Madred, Garak and Damar)
1. Return to Lakarian City

**The following fanfiction is a short-story which takes place before, during and after the events of the TNG episode 'Chain of Command' of 2369. This fanfiction proceeds my story "Shadows of War, Part I - Awoken" and prepares "Shadows of War, Part II" which is in planning.**

**However, it is not necessary to know "Shadows of War" to read this story. It is completely independent, solely its last chapter refer to the story, although explaining its events completely, and also leads to guessing what Part II will be about.**

**This story makes use of the invented character Tallara Shran, an Andorian introduced in my story "Shadows of War, Part I". It is not necessary to know much about her, as important information about her is provided within the story.**

**I would like you to review this short-story and perhaps ask you to read my story "Shadows of War" as well, which is mostly DS9 based with main focus on Elim Garak and Tallara Shran, and is about the end of the Dominion War, genetic engineering, treason and love. I have not uploaded "Shadows of War" to , and I do not consider to do so. When you are interested, and I hope so, please write me a private message and I will send you the story as .pdf via e-mail. I do not upload it as important formatting would be lost, and also because editting it to make it suitable to be read online would consume amounts of time. So please do not hesitate to contact me. (If you don't want to give me your e-mail address, I am sure we can find another way to give you my story.)**

_**We write the year 2369...**_

* * *

**I do not own anything. The following story, as well as "Shadows of War", is based on the canon Star Trek universe, as well as the novel 'A Stitch in Time' by Andrew Robinson and some information provided by non-canon memory-beta. org . It features mainly TNG and DS9.  
**

Chapter 1

It was the last day of a year, and for her the last day of her second three-years-cycle, which meant a larger break before the new year at the Institute started. Only few students went home, only those with the most powerful parents could afford it. Tallara Shran, the only alien at the Institute, was exhausted from the run around the Institute's main ground. She reached 'the pit' second, right after One Ketay, who always seemed to be best in anything she did. It didn't surprise anyone, though, or she wouldn't have become 'One' in the second three-year-cycle, in which only the best of the first cycle had entered.

Calyx didn't seem happy with them, but he never seemed too happy anyway. When the last student had arrived, he shouted angrily and they all ordered after designation in a queue. Tallara was Seven Ketay, so only three other students stood to her right.

"Today is again the last day of a year, the end of the second cycle for you and for some of you also their last day in the career of serving the Union," he said and his glass eye eyeballed Tallara, who was not only the lightest, and less impressive, but also the only blue-skin among the Cardassians.

"However, I fear that I will see some of you pitiful creatures next year again and I hope you'll be in a better shape then. Go have a shower now, at oh five hundred the appraisal begins for Ketay," he finally sent them away. As soon as they were out of his point of view, the female students started to chatter about the upcoming evaluations. Only few of them would be accepted to the last three-year-cycle at the Bamarren Institute of State Intelligence and Tallara hoped both to pass and to fail. On one hand, having been sent to the Institute was a great honor and she didn't want to let down the two persons she had to thank for this, Pythas Lok and Enabran Tain; but on the other hand, every day was a torture. It was hot the whole year long, everybody, especially those of the first level, starred at her. She was the only Andorian within the next few hundred miles and she was not only regarded alien, but also as a traitor. Especially since the Federation had started negotiations with the government about the Bajoran occupation.

She crossed a group of male students, she recognized some of them as First-Cycle-students and was pretty sure to tell who would pass into the next level. She picked a towel and fresh clothes from the room she shared with two other female students of her group, more privacy would be granted to her if she reached up into the last Cycle. She entered the public showers along with the other Cardassians of her group and again she was regarded deprecatory by most of them.

At first, they hadn't wanted her around them when they were naked, after all, she had no sex that you could identify as definitely male or female. She was a _shen_, one of four sexes of the Andorian physiology. To make comparisons easier to other species, _shen_ and _zhen_ were called 'she' and _chan_ and _thaan_ were called 'he'. To reproduce, four bondmates, one of each gender, were brought together at young age, however, she had been younger than that when she had lost her mother and father, rather _zhavey _and _thavan_. Her _shreya_ had passed away when she was a little kid and her _charan_ had fallen as a soldier of the Andorian Imperial Guard.

After the shower, Tallara hurried to the Meeting Hall where all the other students of the second level were assembled. First level students had already gotten their results, third year students knew if they had graduated or not as well. She sat down next to Ten Ketay, one of the few Cardassians who didn't despise her for her physical appearance. Finally, the Ketay group members were called into the office of the Institute's head one after another. When Six Ketay left, obviously having not passed and being expelled from the Institute, there was a long pause and people started to wonder why Seven, Tallara, was not called in. Finally, she was asked in and trembling she stood up and walked past the dozens of eyes that starred up to her. She was one of the last students to be called in, but most of the others remained in the hall to talk to each other before they departed into the break or forever.

Tallara knew that something was wrong when she saw not only the Institute's headmaster but also Enabran Tain and a human standing in the office. The window was dimmed and the yellow ceiling lamp was lightening the room slightly. They all turned when she entered the office and shut the door behind her.

"Sit down, Seven Ketay," the Institute's head said and pointed over to the uncomfortable sofa in the corner of the office.

She nodded with hesitation and confusion but didn't dare to say anything. When she had taken seat, the other three people joined her at the small table.

"I haven't seen you for quite a while, Tallara. You have grown," Tain said and tried to smile.

A small pause followed, until the Institute's director introduced the human male present in the room. "I want you to meet Luther Sloan, he is working for Starfleet diplomacy and he is visiting Cardassia along with other Federation staff due to the conference in Lakarian City these days. They are negotiating about the withdrawal of our military from Bajor."

Sloan and Tallara shook hands and she muttered something like 'pleasure to meet you'.

"I assume you are wondering why I am here and not with my colleagues at the conference," he started to explain. "Fact is that I heard about the chain of incidents that made you end up here at the heart of Cardassia's educational facilities. I read that the transportation ship with your parents and you crashed on Cardassia IV several years ago and that you couldn't be brought back to Andoria due to increasing hostility between the governments of Cardassia and Andor. But now, the Cardassian Union and the Federation are trying to cope with each other again."

"Do you want me to return to Federation's space?" she asked shocked. She had indeed hated living on Cardassia for quite a long time, the temperatures were too high, the climate was too humid and the light was too dimmed. But she didn't have any family in the Federation sector either and she had come to live with being the outcast of the society. And the Institute's students weren't known for their amicability because everyone wanted to be the best.

"No, I know that another change of your environment wouldn't be so good," he said with a smile. "But perhaps you would like to meet others of your species, or at least," he hesitated and smiled at the Cardassians, "someone with another skin color."

"What Commander Sloan is trying say is, that he and I would like you to accompany us to Lakarian city. You would see how much it has changed within the last six years, before you finally return for your last three-year-cycle at Bamarran," Tain added.

"I return? I mean, I have passed?" Tallara said surprised. Of course, only the best, in both educational and physical classes, would pass, and she had improved a lot, but it was also a bit of poker in the game. Influence of the parents or other associates mattered, as well as how you came along with the docents. She knew that Tain had bribed a lot of people to get her into the Institute and she had always wanted to make him proud.

"Yes, you will return to the third level and remain a Ketay," the director said. "However, I'm afraid that Commander Sloan's schedule is very tight and I want you to pack your things and be ready for departure in twenty minutes."

"We'll meet outside the main arch," Tain said with a nod that showed both his approval and that he didn't want to be seen by most of the students. He must have beamed into the office for not being seen, Tallara thought when she stood up and left with a grateful 'thank you'.

First, she was happy and rushed past the other students, who mostly ignored her anyway. But then second thoughts began to shoot through her mind and her pulse started to race. What did Tain do here? He was the head of the Obsidian Order and although she had been raised by one of his closest employees, Pythas Lok, the last time she had met him personally was three years ago, and that had only been a quick visit to have a look if she had survived the first cycle. And what about this human, Sloan. He had tried to be nice and smile, but something bothered her. It was good to finally see another skin color than the tasteless grey of the Cardassians, and he looked exactly like she had imagined a human. And although she had hardly believed the Cardassian school books of anatomy and social sciences of the Federation, he had been more secretive than she would have expected from a Federation officer.

And when she had packed her stuff and hugged Ten Ketay good-bye, it dawned her: Luther Sloan was definitely not a Federation diplomat and probably not even legally on Cardassia. Growing up knowing Tain and getting to know other members of the Order, and also the education of this Institute, made one more suspicious about everything than you wanted. And whoever this Sloan was, she knew that the summer break would definitely be no 'break' for her.

She hurried downstairs again and into the hot, dry evening air. She recognized two figures standing beside the arch and carrying her heavy bag and rucksack, she walked toward them. She still was exhausted from the long end-run, and she doubted that she'd get to see a bed any time soon.

"We'll beam into a shuttle which will bring us to Lakarian City," Tain explained and flipped open a Cardassian communicator to beam them up. The shuttle ride took ten hours and neither Luther Sloan nor Enabran Tain were talking. Tallara used that time to close her eyes and have a little nap. She woke up again when they flew around the mountain side a few kilometers east of the city.

"Looks like I remember it," Tallara commented when she regarded the grey buildings on the sandy soil. It was a wonder how plants still grew on the sidewalks and in the parks. "So, is there actually a Federation conference?" she changed topic.

"Yes, there is. But no one there has ever heard of me," Sloan admitted. "You told me she was good, but not that she was that good," he added to Tain.

"If she wasn't, I wouldn't have proposed her for our job," he responded.

After a little hesitation, she asked, "are you going to tell me about it?"

"Not here," the Cardassian said. "When we have reached the Order's headquarters, we can talk freely."

**Please review and tell me if you would like me to continue uploading and if you might be interested in Shadows of War.**

**Yours, sevenofmine :)**


	2. The Mission

**The following fanfiction is a short-story which takes place before, during and after the events of the TNG episode 'Chain of Command' of 2369. This fanfiction proceeds my story "Shadows of War, Part I - Awoken" and prepares "Shadows of War, Part II" which is in planning.**

**However, it is not necessary to know "Shadows of War" to read this story. It is completely independent, solely its last chapter refer to the story, although explaining its events completely, and also leads to guessing what Part II will be about.**

**This story makes use of the invented character Tallara Shran, an Andorian introduced in my story "Shadows of War, Part I". It is not necessary to know much about her, as important information about her is provided within the story.**

**I would like you to review this short-story and perhaps ask you to read my story "Shadows of War" as well, which is mostly DS9 based with main focus on Elim Garak and Tallara Shran, and is about the end of the Dominion War, genetic engineering, treason and love. I have not uploaded "Shadows of War" to , and I do not consider to do so. When you are interested, and I hope so, please write me a private message and I will send you the story as .pdf via e-mail. I do not upload it as important formatting would be lost, and also because editting it to make it suitable to be read online would consume amounts of time. So please do not hesitate to contact me. (If you don't want to give me your e-mail address, I am sure we can find another way to give you my story.)**

_**We write the year 2369...**_

* * *

**I do not own anything. The following story, as well as "Shadows of War", is based on the canon Star Trek universe, as well as the novel 'A Stitch in Time' by Andrew Robinson and some information provided by non-canon memory-beta. org . It features mainly TNG and DS9.  
**

Chapter 2

"Surgery?" Tallara asked surprised. "How exactly may I understand that?" She, Tain and Sloan were sitting in Tain's office, pretty much the safest place on Cardassia right now.

"We will alter you physical appearance into the one of a Cardassian woman. Looking like that, you will easily gain access to the military's station on Celtris III," Tain said.

"Well, ignoring the fact that Celtris III is supposed to be uninhabited, you want to smuggle me as a gul's new secretary into a secret military station to retrieve certain information they have gathered about a space station at the Cardassian border? Can't you get the information somewhere else? I mean, you're the Obsidian Order, Enabran?"

"Unfortunately, I can't without sending someone there."

"The current status of the negotiations reveal that the Cardassian military will withdraw from the planet of Bajor, and the space station Terok Nor is located right at it. It is only logical to assume that the Federation will get it into their hands as well. This might be the last chance to get any information about the station before it will be given into Federation hands. Of course, the Order will have its means to get to information about the new crew and any events there as well, but it will become more difficult," Sloan intervened.

"The way Gul Dukat and his men are running the station is known to almost everyone. But as you may know, we never trust the official rumors. The last member of the Order who was sent to Terok Nor died three months ago during a Bajoran Resistance attack. We would send someone new to Bajor, but we don't have the time. We need every piece of information that the station's staff has gathered about the Bajoran 'government' and the Resistance as well as every single incident that happened on the station itself. Only with that information we can predict the new power system which is about to be establish on Bajor and its environment," Tain further explained.

"And the military station on Celtris III is the only one gathering this information?" she asked.

"The data gathered by the Intelligence branch of the military needed to be stored where not even the best Bajoran Resistance fighter could get his hands on. So everything was sent to the military base which had only been founded there one year ago. Two months ago, the base also got a political meaning because of a certain plan of the military," Tain said and handed her a padd. "You can read this when you'll be preparing for you current mission. But the mission planned by the military will not affect yours and I assume I won't have to tell you that they have no idea about your operation."

Tallara nodded. _So much information_, she thought. "Okay, I get it so far. But what does Section…whatever, has to do with it?" she tried to politely ask.

Sloan gave her that smile again, that was both warm and cold, depending on how much you knew about him. And right now she had the feeling that she knew far too much about him. "Section 31 is like the Obsidian Order, only with the difference that no one knows about our existence. We are an Intelligence agency without any borders, and without any limits. While our governments are preparing for war, openly or secretly, we rather see our own people as our enemies – just like the Order. Therefore cooperation has not become uncommon. We support the Order with the operation, and get the same information that you will gather on Celtris III. But in addition to that, we have our own operations going on and we need your help. Smuggling you into a military camp which is about to keep a Federation officer hostage is exactly the thing we need."

Tallara wanted to ask something, but Tain simply pointed at the padd in her hands. "The details are noted in the padd. Have you ever heard of the USS Enterprise?"

"Which one? As far as I paid attention to Federation History lessons at the Institute, there were several."

"The Enterprise D."

"It's the flag ship of the Federation…in case of war, it will certainly lead the main fleet."

"You will find the information about our plans in the padd as well, but the only important thing you need to know is that we need to plant some ideas and more or less false facts in the head of the UFP head members," Sloan explained. "We have put everything together on a little data chip which you are going to implant into the Enterprise captain's body. Captain Jean-Luc Picard will be the captured Starfleet officer whom the military's mission is all about," Sloan said.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Tallara asked confused. There was too much information being processed in her brain. Her antennae started to twitch nervously.

"No need to worry, Tallara. Everything within its time," Tain said and smiled at her. He side-looked at Sloan who eyeballed Tallara skeptically. She continued looking outside the window while he admitted to himself that Tain seemed to have kept his word. Tallara was in good physical health and her marks at Bamarran were as he had expected. She had grown taller than he would have thought but changed little since he had seen her the last time. Of course, she wouldn't remember. The Order had always been known for developing biological pills that affected the memory system and with all the tests they had done with her, it was good that she had no memory of that…

"I am sorry but we will have to remove your antennae," the Cardassian surgeon said with a strong accent that Tallara assumed to be spoken in the Chin'toka system.

"What?" she asked anxiously.

"Have you ever seen a Cardassian with blue antennae sticking out of his head?" the doctor repaid.

"But I need them. They're helping my sense of balance and orientation," she defended her blue antennae which were hectically twitching on her head.

The doctor hesitated and looked at Sloan who was calmly watching. "They need to be removed. You will feel sick and be unable to do much for the first thirty-six hours, but after that you should adapt," he explained and nodded to the doctor und started searching his tools for the operation.

"They need up to nine months to re-grow. It will handicap me for the first half of the new year at Bamarren," she said. She couldn't imagine a life without her antennae. Andorian physiology made them necessary to her bodily system and functions.

"You will learn to live without them. If you keep working for Tain, it might be that you lose them during an operation or a fight and then you won't have any time to recover," Sloan said sharply.

Before Tallara could complain, she felt the cold itch of a Cardassian Hypospray at her neck skin and slowly lay down. The anesthetic came to work and she lost consciousness.

=/\= Stardate 46360.8 =/\=

Picard woke up by the noise of the doors opening and closing. He couldn't turn around as he was still hanging down from his hands tied up in cuffs at the ceiling. A shadow was moving directly beside him. The hand cuffs were lowered and he could finally touch the ground again. His knees felt wobbly and as soon as the hand cuffs were not connected to the ceiling-device anymore, he fell to the ground. The rest effects of the drugs made his vision to be blurry and the lights were too bright. He saw the shadow of a person kneeing down in front of him.

Whoever it was, he or she gave him a Hypospray and although the lights were still burning in his eyes, his vision got clearer and he recognized a Cardassian female. "Captain Picard, can you hear me?" she asked with a soft voice.

He tried to look around but there was no one else except for the two of them.

"Can you hear me?" she repeated.

His body was aching and he didn't know if he could talk so he simply nodded.

"Listen to me, Captain. I need you with a clear mind. The Hypospray I gave you contains enzymes that disintegrated the chemical components of the drug given to you which are responsible for your dizziness. I will soon give you another dose because I was told by Gul Madred to implant this device into your body," she explained and held up a two times five centimeter device which had several lose wires sticking out.

"I cannot tell you my name but I am a Starfleet officer sent here by the Intelligence Agency of the Federation," she continued and touched his cold arm. "I need certain information to reach Earth and I implant a data chip along with the Cardassian torture device into your body. No one is going to notice it and you will not feel the data chip in any way. I can't promise the same for the torture device however."

"If so, you'd do something wrong," Picard moaned and tried to manage a smile. He had had no idea that the Intelligence Agency was bold enough to send one of their agents to a secretive military base but in the same moment he wondered why he had been sent here with Crusher and Worf if the UFP already had someone down here. He made a mental note to ask if he ever got out of here.

"When you get back to Federation space, please contact the Intelligence Agency and ask a doctor to remove both this device and the data chip. It is essential for maintaining peace in this quadrant. I will have to put you under drugs again to implant them," she said and loaded the Hypospray again.

"What makes you so sure that I will ever come back to Earth?" he asked, not very much believing into any future. He didn't want to think about the future, his past would make him stronger.

"If everything fails, and the Central Command is ordering either your execution or life-long conviction in a Cardassian prison, I will be ordered to rescue you and bring you back into Federation space with all means necessary. But I hope that it will not come to this. The stakes are very high this time and no side is prepared for a war. The occupation of Bajor has weakened the military and a strike against the Federation is not supported by many politicians. Your life is the only ace in their sleeve."

"I am glad that they see me like this. But you could also be one of Gul Madred's games to get me to talk or to weaken," Picard said and moaned loudly in pain. Somehow this enzyme Hypospray didn't do its work properly.

"I don't want you to talk. At least not now. And don't worry, even under torture you won't be asked any questions that would make you reveal my identity. You simply have to remember about the data chip, that's all what I am here for," she said and finally placed the Hypospray on his arm. He felt a pain passing through his arm and into his shoulder. He wished back already the Hyposprays of the Federation. The drugs took effect very quickly and he had hardly reached his position hanging down again that his vision became blurry again.

Unfortunately, these drugs hardly did anything against the pain. He felt blood trickling down his skin and finally the stitches being done. The blood was warm but the metal wires felt so cold. The blood was wiped away and the only hint of this surgery was the pulsative pain in his chest.

"Until tomorrow morning, Captain Picard," the Cardassian said. "It was a pleasure getting you to know." She nodded at him and then walked out of the room, turning off the lights.

Tallara left the office again. It was late but she first had to see Gul Madred to report that she had successfully implanted the device. She knocked at her boss' private quarters and he let her in. He was still sitting at his computer, probably finishing some reports.

"Have you implanted the device?" he asked and already pulled out the remote control.

"Yes, I have. Do you want me to set the control on the right frequency?" she asked. He held out the device and she came closer to pick it up. She arranged a few things and set it on the lowest level. Gul Madred would increase it anyway during the interrogation. "Still having work to do?" she asked to make some small talk.

"The Central Command wants to know about our progresses in the interrogation. I assume that all those politicians have forgotten – or never learnt – that a true interrogation cannot be done under time pressure."

"I take along they don't know about what it takes anyway. Why else would they have become politicians?" she muttered and handed him the device back.

"I want you tomorrow to attend the interrogation, Dara," he said and looked up from the computer screen. "You have been working in an office position on Cardassia IV for too long and I want you to actively learn something."

"That is news to me. Most officers are glad when I am at the desk, filling out some reports," she answered sarcastically.

"A lot of people don't want women in the military, they think they belong into the science department only. But there are men working in great scientific careers and only too few women protecting their beloved planet. And you definitely belong to the women who could play along with the male officers. I haven't heard of any new incidents since Glinn Benil attacked you."

"Is he out of medical treatment already?" she asked interested. He had been the first and only one to comment a woman being a military officer. She supposed that none of the other soldiers wanted to risk a broken nose and arm.

"Yes, and he has been transferred to Cardassia Prime by the Central Command. If you ask me, it was because they couldn't afford more embarrassment to a soldier who was so close to promotion," he said, expressing that he was completely on Tallara's, or rather Dara Telak's side. "Well, perhaps you should get some sleep, Dara. I want you to report back here at seven hundred hours tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir. Have a good night," she said, nodded and left his personal quarters again. She headed back to the dormitories of the lower ranked officers. Part Two of her plan was accomplished so far, but part one was still to complete. She hadn't had time or the necessary access codes yet to unobtrusively download all the information of the base's data core which contained the most update information about Bajor and its space station. When she entered the hallway of the Gil's and Glinn's quarters, she noticed two Cardassians standing in the corridor talking to each other. They turned to her when she approached and remained silent.

"Have you heard about the transfer of Glinn Benil?" one of them asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, I have," she answered coldly. "Anything you want to tell me about that?" she asked provokingly.

The Cardassian snorted contemptuously, looked back at his friend, nodded, and left to his quarters.

"A lot of people didn't like Glinn Benil. But some still don't want to admit it even when he's transferred to another planet," the other Cardassian said.

"He had influence?" Tallara asked.

"His father works at Central Command but is told to be a member of the Obsidian Order," he answered.

"I take it you didn't like Glinn Benil?"

"No, I didn't. He is as arrogant as his father. I met him while I had been stationed on Bajor," he said and offered her a smile that disappeared again immediately.

"You've been to Bajor? What did you do to be send to an underground base on this lost planet?" she asked although she already knew. Tain and Sloan had made her learn every soldier's history by heart who was stationed on this planet.

"It would take some time to explain."

"Would you…care to take this time?" she asked with her half-nice, half-dangerously-looking smile.

He thought about it for a moment, eyeballing her. "Why not?" he responded. "But we shouldn't do that out here in the corridor," he added and led her into his quarters.

"You're Glinn Damar, right?" she asked when the door behind him closed.

"Yes, Corat Damar. And you're unmistakably Dara Telak," he answered and poured in two glasses of Kanar for them.

The two guards walked out of the room and Picard heard the doors shut behind him. He couldn't say if it was simple pain or the feeling of itchy needles all over his body. He couldn't put his arms down, the less painful position was at the height of his shoulders. Only Gul Madred and a female Cardassian, probably his secretary or advisor, were left with him in the room. Gul Madred sat down and poured himself a cup of a smelly beverage, Picard remembered to have heard that Red Leaf tea was favored among Cardassian soldiers – if they didn't prefer Kanar, as they usually did.

The female Cardassian, he hadn't seen many of them in the past, probably because they were rare among the military, wore a uniform similar to his, although her upper clothing resembled more that of a sweatshirt with a wider neckline.

"Perhaps you are aware of the incision in your chest," Gul Madred said after Picard insisted on seeing four lights. "While you were under the influence of our drugs, Gil Dara Telak implanted you with a small device. It's a remarkable invention."

Picard started to remember her face again when she looked at the woman's dark grey skin and the painted blue on her tear-shaped ridge reaching from the start of her hair down to between her eyes. She had long black hair which was draped in a voluminous bun which was both handy during work and definitely drew some attention on the men-dominated military base.

"By entering commands in this padd, I can introduce pain into any part of your body," Gul Madred further explained and Picard remembered what the Cardassian woman had told her. Madred activated the device and Picard would have never thought it to be so effective. A sudden pain shot through his body. It was more intense than anything he had ever felt and it lasted within his bones. Gasping for breath he collapsed and held onto the desk. Madred already deactivated the trigger but the pain stayed. Picard felt numb from the aftershock. The pain was only leaving very slowly.

"Surprising, isn't it?" Gul Madred asked and stood up from the chair behind his desk. He had a short look at Gil Telak, who was calmly standing next to him, watching Picard with eyes full of interested. He decided that it was a good decisions to having brought her along, he should probably train her in the techniques of interrogation, something that most students usually missed during their training at the military educational facilities in the main Cardassian system.

"I know nothing about Minos Korva," Picard repeatedly said.

Tallara observed Gul Madred. He was definitely an experienced officer, but he was tempted too much to pure violence, switching nearly abruptly from a long talk about archaeology to the application of brutality. And he wanted to teach her! She had learnt a lot at Bamarren – and from Tain. And torture wasn't the best way to retrieve information, well, physical torture wasn't the most efficient way to retrieve valuable information. If someone really wanted to get something from the enemy, be it information or other services, time and patience of both sides were needed. However, time was the factor that wasn't available in this context.

_Time is the fire in which we burn._ Where had she read this quote? It must have been something historical, Tallara remembered. Probably Federation, 23rd century, she recalled. There indeed was a point in learning historical facts by heart, as the docent of Federation history told them every time.

Tallara spent the whole day with Gul Madred at his office, she silently witnessed how Picard weakened more and more, although Madred didn't notice. Somehow she wondered how Cardassian military officer got promoted so easily. It was early in the evening, when they both left the office again and returned to his private quarters.

Gul Madred's daughter was sitting in his chair and he shooed her into her bedroom, promising to indeed read to her when he was finished with work.

"Why have you brought her after all? What about her mother?" Tallara asked.

"She's on a botanical research operation in the wilderness of Cardassia III. She couldn't bring her along and for the time that I am stationed here, she accompanies me. I couldn't do without her, she's my only child," he said and they both took seat. "So, what do you think of the famous Captain Picard?"

"He is stronger than I would have imagined a Starfleet Captain to be. But on the other hand, I'd never underestimate an enemy, whatever rumors had been spread. I honestly doubt that he knows about the plans of defense of Minos Korva. So what is the point in continuing this interrogation when you don't ask him about other things he knows about?" she asked.

"It is not about his knowledge as a Starfleet Captain. Not yet, anyway. It is about breaking him."

"And when you got him so far, he will tell you anything he can think of."

"Exactly," he said, glad that his secretary, his new 'pupil' discovered his way of thinking.

It was another twenty minutes that Tallara spent with her boss discussing the events of the day, until she could finally leave again. When she returned to the quarters, she was not surprised to see that Glinn Damar was waiting for her. Without a word, she followed into his quarters. "I don't think we would need Kanar tonight to talk," she said with a warm smile. In contrast to most Cardassians, his eyebrow ridges were more pronounced and perhaps this was what made him more attractive than the other Cardassians who Tallara had met. Or it was his typically-soldier-like attitude, his rudeness and his kindness, which was hidden deep in his characteristics. He was definitely more complicated than one would think.

"I don't think we will talk much at all," he answered.

Damar was peacefully sleeping next to her. Tallara sighed soundlessly. He wasn't such a bad man, of course, mislead by the Cardassian military. The problem of the people was, that the Cardassians were only told about their way of doing things, about their point of view. But what a good Cardassian mind needed was the exchange with other peoples and races. No wonder that generations of Damar-like by-the-book soldiers were created. But then there were few who were wider-minded, those with charm and political know-how.

At Bamarren, of course a wider view of political and historical topics was given and allowed room for thinking for oneself. Those men and women graduating became big wheels within politics, but only few of them really _did_ think about what was right and what was wrong. She wondered how long Cardassia could live if the people didn't start to think for themselves.

Carefully, she stood up and got dressed, trying not to wake up Damar. Pulling her sweatshirt over her wide neck was difficult and she really wanted to get her own body back. She felt a slight moment of disorientation, due to the loss of her antennae and regarded Damar for a while. He was good-looking and had proven to possess other valuable qualities as well. She only hoped that he would find someone new after he had left his girlfriend with whom he had been on Bajor.

With a last look at him, and at the padd on his desk, she left his quarters. How foolish it had been of him to note all his codes and passwords into a padd, though it was hard to find if someone searched his quarters. But on the other hand, it was not a typically Cardassian mistake, a lot of people of all species tended to write down their most important codes. Tallara hadn't been surprised to find the padd hidden in his desk drawers, even high ranking Guls and Legates wrote down important notes. She left to the third basement level where the main server was located. If she wanted to download all the necessary information, she should do it the direct way. She permitted access and was granted. As soon as she reached the main console, she started scrambling and faking any signals that were sent through the base's digital network.

It took her nearly two hours until she had saved all information on the padd that she had brought along. She was astonished again by how Mindur Timot, a member of the Obsidian Order's science and engineering department, had managed to create a small padd like this with such an incredible huge data memory. When she was done, she made again sure that she had covered all her tracks and also the ones that could lead to Damar. After all, she liked him too much to get caught in such a risky operation.

Tallara hurried back to the quarters section and entered her room. She put the padd deep into her bag and then dressed for the night. She only had three more hours until Gul Madred wanted to see her again and she wanted to use them to sleep at least a bit. If everything went fine, Picard would be released to the Federation by tomorrow evening and she could return to Cardassia Prime to meet Tain and Sloan again.

**Please review and tell me if you would like me to continue uploading and if you might be interested in Shadows of War.**

**Yours, sevenofmine :)**


	3. A new Task

Chapter 3

Gul Madred and Tallara were having lunch at his private quarters when a comm signal from the Reklar, the ship that was currently undergoing negotiations with the Federation flag ship Enterprise, arrived. Gul Lemec ordered them to prepare Captain Picard for returning to the Federation and remove most hints of him being tortured. He didn't state any further explanations and Madred and Tallara stopped their meal immediately to get a last chance to talk to Picard before the Central Command would officially order the base's guards to take him from Madred's control.

"What's your plan?" Tallara asked, trying to keep up with Madred's fast pace.

"Break him. He is a typical Starfleet officer but I need him to be broken. He would make an excellent example in interrogation techniques with Federation officers. We haven't had many chances yet to explore humanity."

"You want him to admit that there are five lights…"

"What do you think about it?"

"The best way so far. Direct approach has not proven successful with Picard. I assume you'll further offer him a place in archaeological expeditions on Cardassia?"

"If not Starfleet, he would have become an archaeologist. It is the best way to distract him from why he is here," Gul Madred explained.

"And offering him insight in the old Hebitians culture might be very interesting – for him."

"You should be very careful about that, Dara… But you are right, of course," the Gul said and eyeballed her from the side.

She nodded. The Hebitian religion was forbidden to be practiced, although she had come to know quite a lot about it, even having participated in one or two secret meetings at the Institute.

"What must I do?" Picard moaned.

Although Tallara had been trained under the hardest conditions at Bamarren, emotions were the few things she had tried to keep. And right now, she felt pity for the Starfleet officer. After all, she was a member of a Federation race and whatever Tain said, he could not deny this. She thought about how it would be to return to Federation space one day but couldn't really imagine it. She was quickly drawn back into reality, when Gul Madred answered, "Nothing, really. Tell me, how many lights you see."

She felt nervous. The guard soldiers were about to come every minute, wanting Picard for his return to the Enterprise. If they came in, the Captain would know that his suffering was over and would not reveal anything anymore – not even how many lights were _not_ to be seen.

Captain Picard's glance moved over Madred's head and towards the brightly lit lamps. Tallara had never seen a human in a worse condition – except for, perhaps, an old enemy of Tain who she had met in one of the Order's interrogation cells. _No human was perfect, not even the Captain of the Federation starship. _But nevertheless, she admired his strength of the last days, he was definitely a special man and the right person to be the Captain of the main ship. She wished she would have met him under easier circumstances.

"How many lights?" Gul Madred's voice was low, and calm. "This is your last chance. The guards are coming."

_It is over,_ Tallara thought. Picard would not break. Gul Madred had committed so many mistakes, and Picard was just not the right man for treason. He was a loyal officer, probably more loyal than the best Cardassian soldier would ever be. Tallara sighed silently, _this game is over, Madred._

"You told me, he would be ready to go," the first guard said angrily.

_You've had your chance, Madred. And you failed. At the Order, you would beg for your execution right now._

"There are four lights!" Picard shouted, before he turned around and walked towards the door, pushing the Cardassian guard away.

Tallara had a quick look at Gul Madred. He was not happy and her only hope was that she wouldn't be the one being made responsible. Madred liked to blame others and vent his spleen on someone else.

=/\=

Tallara's mission was over and she would head back to Cardassia Prime within one hour. She had contacted Tain and he had pulled the right strings to get her out of the military base. She was packing her last things into her bag when someone knocked at the door. She first thought it was Damar, probably saying good-bye, but then she remembered that he was on duty right now. She wondered how it could be, and said, 'come in'.

When she turned around, she was surprised to look at a Cardassian who she hadn't before seen on this station. "I'm sorry, can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, I thought that you probably might," he answered with a smile and the next thing she knew was that she was being hit by a Federation phaser set to stun. "And I'm sorry for the rude way of entering," he apologized while he caught her before she could fall to the ground. He took out a communicator and ordered to beam them up.

When Tallara awoke, she knew that something was wrong. She first didn't get why, but then she felt her skin and noticed that her Cardassian neck ridges were gone, as well as everything that made her look like one of them. She looked around and saw that she was lying on a small operation table, surrounded by nothing than grey walls. There was a mirror on one side and she stumbled towards it, still feeling the aftershock of the phaser shot.

It felt weird seeing her usual blue skin color and white hair again, especially without the antennae.

"It might be a bit unusual right now, but believe me, you will get used to it," someone said behind her and she quickly turned around. It was the same Cardassian who had stunned her.

"Who are you?" she wanted to know and walked towards him. He did not back off.

"I think the first important question is, where are we? I can answer you that one, we are not in the Cardassian sector anymore. You were asleep for about seventeen hours."

"This room is Cardassian architecture," she recognized.

"Yes, yes it is. We are aboard a space station, my dear. It had been built by Cardassians and is now in Federation's hands."

"Who are you?" she repeated.

"You might want to sit down because the following news are going to be a bit unsettling for you," he offered.

She hesitated, but then sat down on the cold Cardassian bed again.

"What I am going to tell you is the truth and I have means to prove it. However, I want you to believe me and I will need your complete trust," the Cardassian said.

"If we're aboard a Federation-run space station, how come you are aboard?"

"Everything within its time," he said and sighed. "Do I have your trust?"

She looked around. The only window showed nothing but the blackness of space. The space station was slowly rotating and the stars were changing. "I assume I have no other way than to trust you," she finally answered and decided to listen to whatever this Cardassian was about to tell.

"My name is Elim Garak, you might have heard about me from my father Enabran Tain who you are working for. You do not need to fear me, I am completely on your side and I know everything about you," the Cardassian began, hesitated, and then continued, "I come from the year 2382, but right now, we are aboard this space station in the year of 2376. It is the end of the Dominion War, a war in which Cardassia was nearly completely destroyed, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation suffered severe losses. In the year 2381 I had decided that I could not live with the outcome of the war, so I had decided to go back in time and alter history. Let me finish, please, before you criticize. I had gone back into the year 2376 and warned my former self. He had taken other steps than me and successfully changed the outcome of the war. Not much, but several people had survived and other people had died instead. Then, to not create a paradox, he had also travelled back in time, when he had become older, to remind himself to change history. Unfortunately, I had set in motion a certain chain of events that I had not foreseen. Due to information about the first 'me' intending time travel, I know how the universe had been before. By travelling back in time, I had entered into an alternate universe."

"The theory of creating an alternate reality of every decision we make," Tallara said. "By travelling back, you accidentally created several new universes and trapped yourself in them. You prevented yourself from doing your initial decisions and the original universe ceased to exist."

"Exactly. And from what I have seen and noticed, my actions have only made things worse."

"You want to alter everything back. But you've created the alternate universes already, there is no way of closing them."

"There is a way. My intention is to bring everything back into the original universe the first 'me' has come from. By doing that, I close any way to jump into the newly created alternate realities. Crossing into parallel universes will still be possible, but just not into those I have created due to my first time travel."

"Okay, I understand so far. But I have two questions," she said slightly confused. "First, what does it have to do with me? Second, what happened in the primary universe, and what made the alternate reality so much worse?"

"For the second question, let me tell you the following: 2376. The end of the Dominion War. In the final battle, Legate Damar, leader of a revolutionary group succeeds to turn the Cardassians, who had been allied with the Dominion, against the Dominion themselves. With their help, Romulans, Klingons and the Federation can successfully defeat the Dominion fleet and their allied Breen."

"Wait, this 'Dominion' had been allied with Cardassia and Breen? And how the hell did Klingons and Romulans work together – with the UFP?"

"This is not important by now. You will learn everything when it's time."

"I've heard this too often."

"Please trust me, Tallara."

She nodded. She didn't know why, but she nodded.

"The Dominion was defeated, their leader race, the Founders, were captured and held trial. In order of Damar's revolution, he died and I killed a leading Dominion diplomat, called Weyoun, for his many crimes against the Cardassians and Legate Damar."

"You mean Corat Damar, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. You know him?"

She nodded again.

"In the following years, the Federation helped to rebuild the Cardassian government and its infrastructure. Thousands of more people died from starvation, plague and civil wars. The Romulans created the Typhon Pact with several other races and new wars were coming. No one was ready."

"Let me get this straight, you want this universe back? Was the alternative so much worse?" she asked in disbelief.

Elim Garak sighed and starred at her with his lovely blue eyes. "What do you know about a genetically engineered human named Khan Noonien Singh?"

"Several things…I assume. I learnt it at –"

"The Bamarren Institute of State Intelligence, I know. In the primary universe, Khan was recovered after being sent into space in the 20th century. He and his crew were awoken by Captain James Tiberius Kirk in the 23rd century."

"I am well aware of the story. He destroyed half San Francisco in his attempt of revenge."

"No, he didn't. The original Khan tried to take over the Enterprise to get back the power he was intended to have. He failed and was exiled to Ceti Alpha V, an isolated planet. Several years later, he searched revenge and tried to kill Captain Kirk, leading to the death, well, and resurrection, of his best friend Spock. Khan died due to the explosion of the Genesis device – which I will tell you about later. But Khan was killed."

"Okay, so I assume that we are already in this alternate reality that you want to prevent. I now know what is supposed to happen, but what has actually happened or will happen?" Tallara asked and a headache started to slowly crawl up into her brain.

"In the alternate reality, in which I had jumped, Khan had been found by a megalomaniac Starfleet officer and then turned against Starfleet itself for unknown reasons. The whole thing is a bit hard to believe…so many logic mistakes…however, Khan did not die but was put into a stasis chamber that finally ended up in the headquarters of the Obsidian Order. Because of me travelling back, and jumping into this alternate reality, he was unfortunately awoken. In 2376, he tried to prevent the defeat of the Dominion and make the Federation's victory a lot bloodier. However, Corat Damar survived. Khan was captured again and put into stasis but was re-awoken…"

"You're giving me more details later, will you?" she asked in disbelief. What was the point of all this?

"Yes, yes I will. Khan was re-awoken and fled from Cardassia. In 2379 he helped the current Romulan praetor to take over sole command over the Romulan government and the Tal Shiar. Praetor Shinzon, a human clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who you might know by now, and alternate-reality-Khan started a war against the Federation and Cardassia. Cardassia had been helpless anyway, and Khan wiped out any member of the Order for the genetic experiments they had conducted on him. The Klingon Empire had still tried to recover from the Dominion War and fell shortly after the Federation. You cannot imagine the tragedy, Tallara."

"So, the Alpha Quadrant came under the rule of the Romulan Star Empire. What happened?"

"The Borg attacked. It is worse than the climax of the Dominion War. The existence of our individuality is at stake and Shinzon and Khan are the most ruthless rulers you could imagine, because they have no one to stop them. And Romulus is backing them completely."

"How could you possibly prevent all this and shut down all connections between the primary and its mirror universes to the alternate realities?"

"How can you un-do the past, present and future?" he asked and his blue eyes seemed to glow in the dimmed light.

"A paradox," she said after a while. "Create a paradox and everything will resolve itself. A risky plan…"

"It could work."

"It _could_."

"The main point is to travel back in time and make sure that Khan's history is corrected. That will create a paradox to our current universe."

"You can't expect everything to jump back simply because of that."

"If we correct history to what it has once been, nothing will have happened at all."

_This is insane._ That was the only thing Tallara could right now think. She looked at the dark brown-grey floor and at the walls. She had heard about Garak, but everything she had read now seemed underrated. This man was insane. Or probably it was just what this alternate reality had done to him.

"There is still the first question I asked to be answered. What role do I play in your plans?" she asked.

He hesitated for a long while, before he pulled out a communicator. "You can come in," he said when he had tapped it.

The doors opened and Tallara couldn't really believe what she was seeing. She herself entered the room.

"This is you from 2376. This is you who had helped me to figure out this plan all along," Garak explained.

Tallara stood up from the bed and walked towards herself. She looked older, scars were decorating her face, her hair was longer and she had two antennae which rested calmly on her head.

"Why would you do this?" she asked herself.

"Guilt," the older Tallara Shran answered with a deeper voice. "Guilt of what we have done. The Romulan War against the Borg is our fault and we are going to prevent it."

**Please tell me if you were interested in reading a sequel, either as a review or via PM.  
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**I would also appreciate it, if you wrote me in case that you are interested in the prequel of this story, featuring mainly Elim Garak, and later both Tallara Shran and alternate-reality-Khan.**

**Probably you're just going to skip what I say, but I appreciate every single line of a review you'll give me ;)**

**(I haven't uploaded Shadows of War - Part I because I knew no one would review :( )**

**Yours sincerely, sevenofmine**


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